budget

Let’s start with the elephant in the room: A councilmember has been linked to a bribery investigation. If anything is amiss, the repercussions will be significant. If nothing is amiss, the devastation to this councilmember, her reputation and her family is immeasurable and horrific.

But no matter the outcome, the damage has already been done. Trust and confidence in the city’s leadership has been shaken. A big question mark — “what now?” — hangs in the air. Which brings us back to the room: The City of South Lake Tahoe.

CARSON CITY — A state panel was told today that for yet another two-year state budget, there will be virtually no money available from property tax revenues for capital construction projects.
The state Public Works Board heard the disappointing news today as it began a two-day review of projects being sought by state agencies ranging from the Department of Corrections to Tourism and Cultural Affairs.

CARSON CITY – A legislative panel today quickly approved budget changes sought by a state agency so it can finalize a $3 million contract with an out-of-state firm to spearhead tourism efforts in Nevada.
Burson-Marsteller, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, was the unanimous selection of an evaluation committee made up of Nevada tourism professionals. The company will be working with Red Rock Strategies of Las Vegas.

Severe debt and federal budget cuts will put increasing pressure on the private sector to take responsibility for environmental restoration projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to the congressional delegates and state leaders who met on Monday for the 16th annual Lake Tahoe Summit.
With the White House projecting a $1.65 trillion spike in the deficit this year, the theme at the summit was the relationship between the public and private sectors and how agencies and organizations in the basin can collaborate to achieve economic and environmental health.

Natural forces and human actions have affected the lake's clarity, physics, chemistry and biology since 1968, when UC Davis first began continuous monitoring of Lake Tahoe.
Despite an extreme weather year, overall clarity at Lake Tahoe improved in 2011. Yet underlying trends portray a more complex picture of the Lake Tahoe ecosystem, according to the annual “Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2012,” released today by the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at the University of California, Davis.

UPDATE 10:57 AM: South Lake Tahoe Fire Department issued the following press release regarding Monday night's gas leak, which was reportedly caused by a backhoe that severed a natural gas line. The leak forced the closure of Highway 50 between Fairway Avenue and Herbert Avenue from 11 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. No injuries were reported. Here is the press statement:

Hello family, fans and Facebook friends, I hope your summer is shining brightly on you all.
I'm excited to tell you about my newest music project that I just launched with Kickstarter. With two records behind me and many years living, playing cover/original music on the road and at home, I'm finally ready to record my first SOLO CD. For the last two years I've been putting my heart and soul into writing my original music and now have so much material that I need to make a record.

The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Julius Genachowski, will visit Barton Memorial Hospital on Monday as part of a tour visiting health care facilities in California and Nevada. The visit coincides with the FCC's Rural Healthcare Pilot Program, in which Barton Health received funding.

In a space agency filled with trailblazers, Sally K. Ride was a pioneer of a different sort. The soft-spoken California physicist broke the gender barrier 29 years ago when she rode to orbit aboard space shuttle Challenger to become America’s first woman in space.

Ride, 61, died in La Jolla, Calif. after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, NASA reports on Monday.

An area school is boasting some of the highest graduation rates in California. Newly finalized counts show about 92.5 percent of South Tahoe High School's seniors are earning diplomas. Compare that to the state average of 76.3 percent. But district officials say one of the main reasons they're claiming success has just been cut from the California budget.

Douglas County’s financial management practices were recently rated “strong” by Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Rating Services.
As part of its rating, S&P stated that the highlights of the County’s management techniques are its formal financial policies, utilizing external and internal resources for budget assumptions, and engaging in multi-year financial planning, including a new five-year forecast the County created this year, according to a news release issued by Douglas County.

The worst possible outcome for Mammoth Lakes has come true. The town filed decided to declare municipal bankruptcy Monday morning, July 2. The Town Council took the action unanimously.
"It's wish this hadn't happened," said Mayor Matthew Lehman, "but it's not the way the cards fell for us."
The town immediately issued a press release regarding the Town council decision.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic lawmakers have long warned of dire consequences if California voters reject a proposed tax hike on the November ballot. In adopting a $91.3...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California voters will get a chance to vote on competing proposals that would raise taxes as the state struggles with its budget deficit.An initiative backed by Gov. Jerry...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers have scheduled a Friday budget vote on their plan to balance a $15.7 billion deficit as they run up against a constitutional deadline or risk losing t...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Democratic legislative leaders met Monday with Gov. Jerry Brown as they chased a deadline this week to approve a budget that addresses California's nearly $16 billion defi...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Jerry Brown wants to shift the safety net protecting California's most vulnerable residentsPressured by a $16 billion budget deficit, the governor is proposing a major overh...

Class sizes have increased, courses have been cut and tuition has been raised — repeatedly. Fewer colleges are offering summer classes. Administrators rely increasingly on higher tuition from out-of-staters. And there are signs it could get worse: If a tax increase proposed by California Gov. Jerry Brown is not approved this year, officials say they will be forced to consider draconian cuts like eliminating entire schools or programs.

CARSON CITY — The National Retail Federation has launched a nationwide 60-day campaign to raise awareness among lawmakers and the public on how what it calls a loophole exempting online sales from sales tax is hurting local communities and job creation.
If Nevada’s five-member Congressional delegation is any indication, the group has its work cut out for it, with three members opposed and two supportive of the idea to allow states to tax online sales.